Quarantined
by jbn42
Summary: As far as she's concerned, he's never allowed to set foot near one of Malcolm's research projects ever again.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Fill for a LiveJournal Friday one word prompt - "Quarantined" for Wash and Elisabeth. Was originally imagined as a few chapters, but bloomed into six. Story is complete and previously published on LJ.

Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense – just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.

Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine (except Gracie, of course), just borrowing.

"Elisabeth, this is Alicia. You there?" Alicia is crossing the plaza, heading for the infirmary. She has plans to meet Elisabeth for lunch, and she's running late.

"Alicia, this is Elisabeth. I'm here. I'm running a bit behind; can I just meet you in the market in ten minutes?"

Alicia grins. "Sure, Elisabeth. I was running late myself."

"And by the way, your husband has invited himself to lunch. He's here with Malcolm and Mira, looking at some plant samples." Elisabeth sounds a little hassled.

"Understood. Do you need me to tell him no? Is that what's up? You sound a little out of sorts." Alicia frowns a little. She knows that Nathaniel can be a little bossy when he wants to get his way.

Elisabeth laughs. "No, that's OK. You know he doesn't bother me. I'm just nervous. Malcolm is using my scanner to look at this plant sample, but it's a pretty toxic plant. We've figured out that if a person inhales too much of it, it can cause a significant respiratory issue that can spread quickly once it's airborne. Mira said they lost three people to it several years ago, and Malcolm wants us to develop an effective treatment as a precautionary measure. He thinks he has it, actually another plant, but his scanner is on the fritz."

"OK, given the length of that explanation, I'm guessing you're avoiding them?"

"Good call. Malcolm is being a little pushier than I appreciate." Elisabeth's hassled tone returns.

Alicia is about to reply when she hears an alarm sound through the comm. "Elisabeth?"

Instead of a response, she hears Elisabeth yelling, "Lock it down! Lock it down!"

After that, she loses the comm connection. She heads towards the infirmary at a dead run, re-activating her comm and calling, "Elisabeth? Nathaniel? Mira? Someone please respond!"

A moment later, she heaves a small sigh of relief when she hears Nathaniel's voice, but her relief is short-lived. "Alicia, we're locking the infirmary down, no one in or out."

"Nathaniel, what just happened?" Alicia can't help but start to feel a little frantic.

Instead of Nathaniel responding, it's Elisabeth. "Alicia, Malcolm was moving the canister with the toxic plant in it when he tripped and fell. The canister broke open. He almost certainly breathed in quite a bit of the toxin from the plant. Skye was in the room with him, but she wasn't as near to the plant as he was."

"And you and Nathaniel, and Mira?" Alicia arrives at the outside of the infirmary, feeling completely helpless.

Nathaniel's voice returns, sounding a little tinny, almost echoing. "Mira and I were out in the hall, Alicia, and Elisabeth was actually in her office. Malcolm knew the protocols, so he shut down ventilation immediately. Those of us who weren't in the room just put on rebreathers right now."

Elisabeth breaks back in, her voice sounding tinny like Nathaniel's. "We're on complete quarantine, Alicia. As Taylor already said, we're on lockdown."

"What can I do?" She's desperate for a task, something she can do to help.

Nathaniel responds, "Get Guz, Carter and Shannon. Malcolm is continuing his testing, but he's almost one hundred percent certain that the sample treatment he has is the right one. The only problem is that it was a tiny sample. We're going to have to send people out to get more of it."

"OK, Nathaniel. I'll pull them together now. I'm also going to get Reynolds and Reilly to get a rotation set up. We need security at the infirmary to keep people away."

"Good thinking. And Alicia, we're all right. Do you hear me? We're all right."

She takes a deep breath. "Stay that way, OK?"

"We'll do our best. Call us back when you have Guz, Carter and Shannon assembled. Use my office – we can do a live feed off of network cameras instead of relying on the comms."

"Copy that, Nathaniel. Washington out." Alicia has to pause and take another deep breath before calling the others.

Twenty minutes later, Reynolds and Reilly are already setting up a duty roster for the infirmary security detail, and Alicia, Carter, Guz and Shannon are assembling in Nathaniel's office in the command center. All three of the men had briefly melted down at the news of their respective significant others being inside the locked-down infirmary. Understandably, the most upset of the three was Carter, once he found out that Skye was near Malcolm when the accident happened.

Alicia prepares to call the infirmary, steeling herself. She knows she and Nathaniel are about to have a major disagreement in front of the others. She fully intends to lead the OTG team to go collect more of the cure plant, and she knows that Nathaniel will be vehemently opposed to that idea.

Whether he likes it or not, though, she's going. She already talked to Maddy, and Maddy and Mark, married just last month, will be watching Gracie for her. Before she leaves to go OTG, she'll go talk to her precocious two-and-a-half year old, to explain where she's going and to explain why her Daddy isn't taking care of her.

She looks up as Carter, Guz and Shannon all come in, Shannon and Carter with their packs already on their shoulders. She nods to all three, and then she starts the feed. "Washington to Taylor, come in, Nathaniel."

A moment later, her husband's face appears on the screen, and Elisabeth is sitting next to him. "We're here, Alicia. Report?"

"Security detail is set up, Nathaniel, and the soldiers are also getting the word out that the infirmary is temporarily closed. Reilly is talking to the docs who weren't on duty, and they're trying to set up an emergency clinic, likely in the market plaza." Alicia runs through the easy stuff first.

"Good. And is the OTG team assembled?" He is already giving her a hard look, so she assumes that he's already guessed what she's going to say.

"It is, Nathaniel," she pauses, "Carter, Shannon, Reilly and I will be leaving within the hour. We just need the images of exactly what we're looking for."

"Alicia, no. You need to stay here." He's shaking his head, and Elisabeth also looks less-than-pleased at the news that Jim is going with them.

"Negative, Nathaniel. I'm going. Maddy and Mark will be looking after Gracie. Guz is going to be here, in charge. It'll be fine." She isn't going to argue with him about this.

"No, Alicia, you need to…"

She doesn't let him finish. "I need to get that Goddamned plant, Nathaniel. I'm going." His eyes flash in irritation with her, and she knows they'll be having words about this later.

"Give us the room for a moment." OK, maybe they'll be having words now.

She turns to Carter, Guz and Shannon. "Just a minute, guys."

They all nod and quietly step out, and she sees Elisabeth do the same on Nathaniel's end. She waits until they're both alone. A moment later, it's just the two of them. Her eyes are soft and pleading when she looks at him, and her voice drops a little. "I need to go, Nathaniel. I can't just sit here. Would you be able to? It's not just for you. It's for Elisabeth, Malcolm, Skye, Mira, all of you. I need to do this."

His face, initially stormy, takes on a resigned expression. He sighs. "Damn it, Alicia."

"We'll be OK. And you know that with me driving, we'll be fast, too."

He shakes his head. "I don't like this."

"I know you don't. But I'm not wild about you being quarantined in the infirmary, either. And, my best friend is there, too. It's shaping up to be a pretty crappy day, you know." Alicia gives him a game smile.

"What, I'm not your best friend anymore?" He sounds slightly put out, but the look in his eyes tells her that he's kidding.

She rolls her eyes at him and she yells to the guys to call them back in. Elisabeth also returns, sitting once again next to Nathaniel. She looks as unhappy as Nathaniel. "Jim, Alicia, you two be careful, do you hear me?"

They both nod, and Jim says, "We will, Liz. We'll all take care of each other."

Carter speaks up. "How is Skye?"

Nathaniel nods. "Thus far, she's clear, Carter," he turns to Guz, "And Mira's all right too, Guz. But Malcolm's already showing signs of infection." They all tense at that. "So, time is of the essence. We just sent information about where you need to go to your plex, Alicia. It's less than a day by rhino."

"OK, Nathaniel. You all take care, all right?" Try as she might, she can't keep the note of worry out of her voice. She turns to look at her friend through the camera. "That means you too, Elisabeth. I finally have a female best friend. Losing that is not an acceptable option."

Elisabeth smiles. "Understood, Alicia. Look after my husband, please, and I'll keep an eye on yours."

Alicia nods. "Done, Elisabeth." She looks at Nathaniel again. "We'll check in tonight, Nathaniel."

"Be safe, Alicia. Please be safe." Their eyes lock, and a dozen different thoughts pass between them, silent communication developed over the course of the last twenty years.

Instead of replying, she just nods and says, "Washington out." They shut down the camera, and they all jump up, her heading to the preschool to see Gracie, and then home to pack up to go. As she runs towards Gracie's school, she finds herself quietly chanting, "Please be OK" over and over again under her breath.

Half an hour later she, Shannon, Carter and Reilly are piled in a rhino, Alicia at the wheel, and they tear out of the colony gate under the warm, early afternoon sun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Fill for a LiveJournal Friday one word prompt - "Quarantined" for Wash and Elisabeth. Was originally imagined as a few chapters, but bloomed into six. Story is complete and previously published on LJ.

Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense – just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.

Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine (except Gracie, of course), just borrowing.

_Terra Nova Infirmary_

Malcolm's hacking coughs already echo throughout the building, making Nathaniel give Elisabeth a worried look as she enters her office. He has taken refuge here, finding he is little to no help with the things that need to be done around the infirmary. "That kicked in fast, Doc."

As he speaks, he vacates her desk chair, dropping into one of her guest chairs instead. He's not wearing a rebreather, as they've been able to close down areas of the infirmary enough to get a good seal in certain rooms, Elisabeth's office being one of them.

She pulls off her rebreather, sighs and sits down. "It did. It's only been a few hours, but he's already wheezing. He also has spiked a fever. I finally was able to make him take a break. The only good news is that the last test of the plant we sent the team out to get more of is looking very promising. It appears to be killing the toxin."

"How is everyone else doing, Elisabeth? How are you doing?"

She gives him a weak smile. "I'm OK, Commander. And for the most part, the others are doing all right as well, outside of being frightened. I'm just glad my only patients were here for physical injuries as opposed to illnesses. At least we're not worried about weakened immune systems potentially having to fight this. I do wish Nurse Ogawa had gone to lunch when I told her to, though. Then, she wouldn't be trapped here with us."

Something she said caught his attention. "Elisabeth, you can call me Nathaniel, and what do you mean, 'for the most part?'"

She sighs again. "I'm worried about Skye, and to a lesser extent, about Mira. Skye was just so close to Malcolm when it happened, and Mira just told me she actually was infected with this thing back when the Sixers lost three people to it. She and a few others were ill for weeks."

He shoots Elisabeth a puzzled look. "Shouldn't that have given her some antibodies?"

She shakes her head. "This isn't a virus; it's a toxin that appears to attack the lungs. It's not like anything I've seen before, Comman-, er, Nathaniel, and since it's never been encountered here in the colony, I don't have any historical data to study."

"What are you not saying, Elisabeth?" He can see that she's holding something back.

"Skye and Mira are both showing early signs of respiratory issues. Their last scans showed a slight decrease in their pulse ox, Mira more so than Skye, and they both are getting a little congestion in their lungs." At his alarmed look, she holds up her hands. "It's nothing like what we've seen in Malcolm. The amount of exposure seems to be related."

"I'm assuming you'd tell me if I was showing the same symptoms?" He raises an eyebrow at her. At her confused look, he explains, "I was standing in the hall right next to Mira, Doc. If she's showing signs of trouble, shouldn't I be having issues too?"

"Not necessarily. One, you don't have any record of respiratory issues, Mira does, her prior exposure and illness with this toxin in particular. Two, everyone may react differently. That may be why Skye isn't as infected as Malcolm or even Mira."

He offers, "She's also younger than both Malcolm and Mira."

"Yes, but," she mimics his earlier eyebrow lift, "You're close to twenty years older than both of them and thirty-five years older than Skye, and you're perfectly fine. I'm close to being of an age with Malcolm and Mira, and I'm also clear. The others, Nurse Ogawa and the two patients, are clear as well, and their ages are all younger than all of us except Skye. Age may or may not be a factor with regard to likelihood of infection. Where it may help is with regard to how effectively the body fights it off."

"Touché, Elisabeth." He hesitates briefly. "What do we say?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm assuming you've also told Skye and Mira about their conditions?" She nods, so he goes on, "What do we say to Guz and Carter? I need their heads in the game, Guz keeping an eye on things here and Carter OTG. But, I'm not willing to lie to them. Alicia's going to check in with us tonight. I know there's an outpost near where we told them the plants we need are, so they'll stop there for the night. I'd wager we'll be hearing from them in an hour or two. She's going to ask how everyone is."

"I hadn't thought about this." She blows out a breath. "I think we need to let Skye talk to Carter. That way, he'll hear that she's OK."

"OK, Elisabeth. I want to brief Alicia first, so she's prepared for Carter's reaction. And I'm going to have Mira talk to Guz." He pauses, and then he swears softly. "Damn it."

Elisabeth looks at him. "What?"

"Deborah Tate. We have to let Skye talk to her mother, and Malcolm should talk to her too, if he's up to it. That poor woman."

Elisabeth pales slightly. "Lord, I forgot that she's dating Malcolm." She brushes her hand across her eyes, suddenly looking very tired. "That poor woman indeed. I'll go get Skye, and then I'll talk to Malcolm, see if he can talk to Deborah."

Nathaniel reaches out and puts a hand on Elisabeth's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'll do both, Doc. You need a break. Take one." She starts to argue, and he cuts her off. "Just because I'm stuck in here doesn't mean I'm not in charge of the whole damned colony. I'll make it an order if have to."

She looks put out until she clearly sees that he's teasing her. She rolls her eyes at him, making him think that Alicia is rubbing off on her. "Yes, sir."

He smirks at her before slipping on his rebreather and exiting the office. Despite his attempt at a lighthearted attitude, he's dreading talking to Skye, Mira and Malcolm. More than that, he's dreading talking to Alicia tonight. He sighs as he walks towards the area where he saw Skye last, knowing he needs to get this over with.

_Outpost Three, OTG_

Alicia collapses onto the cot in the only unused private room at Outpost Three, the others currently taken by the semi-permanent staff of three scientists and two soldiers here. Shannon, Reilly and Carter all wandered into the regular barracks area, giving Alicia the room. Normally, she might've shrugged off the favor, but knowing how restless she feels, she knows she'd probably drive everyone nuts out in the barracks.

She rolls her shoulders, trying to work out some of the tension that has settled there. She knows she needs to go to communications and check in with Nathaniel, but she's terrified as to what he'll have to report. As worried as she is about all of them in the infirmary, the thought of Nathaniel or Elisabeth getting sick makes her feel almost physically ill.

Shaking her head, she gets to her feet. She heads out the door, intending to go to the communications room. Before she can go five steps, she hears boots behind her, and she turns to see Shannon and Carter standing there, both looking worried.

Shannon looks at Carter, who motions at Alicia as if prompting Shannon to speak. Shannon looks back at Alicia, and he says, "We want to call with you, Wash."

"No."

They both blink, almost comically surprised. Apparently they expected at least a little equivocation. Carter recovers first, and he's surly when he speaks. "Why the hell not?"

She walks up to both of them, drawing herself to her full height, leaving her shorter than Shannon but actually slightly taller than Carter. She gives them both a hard look. "First and foremost, because I said so." They bristle at that, but after a moment, they both surprise her by giving her terse nods.

With their agreement on her first point, she softens her expression, looking first at Shannon and then at Carter. "Second, I need to get the sit rep from Nathaniel first. Then, I fully intend to let you talk to Elisabeth and Skye."

At her last statement, they both visibly relax. She reaches out and puts a hand on one of each of their arms. "I'm worried, too. Honestly, I want to talk to Nathaniel alone because I really don't need an audience if he's not OK."

Carter nods at that, but Shannon gets a sympathetic look on his face, and she can see what might be coming. She cuts it off at the pass. In a deadpan voice, she says, "I don't need a hug, Shannon."

Carter snorts, and Shannon looks affronted for a moment. Then, he lets out a chuckle. "Fair enough, Wash. But, if you decide you need one later, you know where to find me."

She shakes her head and turns on her heel, heading for the outpost's communications room. Silently, she finds herself saying a quick thank you for their decision to leave a secondary communications center in the infirmary back at the colony, one they set up before they defeated the Phoenix Group over two years ago.

After entering the communications room and closing the door, she sinks into the chair at the console. She immediately radios the colony, and after a few minutes, she hears the speaker crackle to life. "Alicia?"

Just at the sound of his voice, perfectly normal and strong, she relaxes a small amount. "Nathaniel. We're here, Outpost Three."

"No trouble getting there?"

She smiles at the small amount of concern she hears in his voice. "None at all. It was downright boring." She hears him chuckle softly, and she can't stop herself from asking, "You sound OK. _Are _you OK, Nathaniel?"

"I'm fine, Alicia, I promise. So far, so good."

She lets out a sigh of relief, but she also frowns. He sounds tired to her, something she didn't notice at first. "You sound tired, Nathaniel."

"It's been a long day, and I just had to watch Skye talk to her mother."

She furrows her brow. "What's going on?"

"Malcolm is already pretty sick, Alicia, and he's getting worse by the hour. Elisabeth just had to put him on a mask to help him breathe." He pauses. "And Mira and Skye are showing symptoms now, too, Mira more than Skye, but both of them appear to have been at least somewhat infected."

"Damn it," she whispers, "But you and Elisabeth?"

"Both still completely clear, and that's the truth. Neither of us have any symptoms, and we're both still testing clean – no toxin in the blood or otherwise."

"Thank God. How bad are Skye and Mira?" Alicia cringes, knowing that Carter might actually lose it if anything happens to Skye, and even, quite honestly, if anything happens to Mira.

"Skye isn't bad at all. Slightly reduced pulse ox, some mild chest congestion. Mira's pulse ox is dropping, and she's developing a hacking cough. It's nowhere near as bad as Malcolm's, but that's relatively cold comfort. She had this before, years ago. Elisabeth is worried that the prior exposure might be making her more vulnerable to the toxin." He sounds more tired with every word, but she can understand it.

Past history aside, they've all become pretty attached to and fond of their resident former Sixers. One person's affection in particular stands out. Alicia has to ask, "Is Guz OK, Nathaniel?

"He seems to be, but I know it's a front. He's falling apart and going crazy because he can't fight it for her. It's pretty clear to me that he feels the way I would if it was happening to you." After a brief pause, he chuckles softly. "It also makes me slightly less irritated with you for demanding to be the one heading up the OTG team. I get that you just needed to _do _something."

She feels uncharacteristic tears form in her eyes, and she's not sure if they're for Mira and Guz, or Skye and Carter, or poor Deborah Tate. She just knows that she hates this whole situation. Shaking her head, she composes herself. "Speaking of that, Nathaniel, the scientists here know exactly where the plant is. We're going out to get it at first light, and I'm hoping we'll be back there by early afternoon tomorrow. Does Malcolm have that much time?"

"I estimated that as the likely time frame, and Elisabeth is at least somewhat hopeful."

"OK, Nathaniel. I'm going to go get Shannon and Carter in a minute. Who first?"

"Skye." His voice is emphatic.

"Understood. One other thing, though. Have you talked to the Bug?" Alicia refers to their daughter by her nickname, given to her by Boylan when she was a tiny baby.

"I did. We got on the network cameras, and I read her a bedtime story. She's OK, Alicia. Scared, but Maddy and Mark will look after her." His words make more tears spring to her eyes, but she blinks them back.

"I know," she says quietly. "OK, I'll go get Carter. And Nathaniel, I love you. Please be careful."

"Always, Alicia, and I love you too. I'll go get Skye. Good night, my Alicia."

She smiles softly at his protective and possessive side rearing its head, and she quietly replies, "Good night, Nathaniel."

Ten minutes later, after propelling Carter into the communications room and then reassuring Shannon that he was going to get to talk to Elisabeth and that Elisabeth is all right, Alicia curls back onto her cot in her room. She leans back against the wall, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them.

She doesn't know how long she sits there, but she's shaken out of her reverie by a sharp knock at the door. Instead of rising, she just calls, "Come in."

A visibly shaken Carter opens the door and enters the room. He leaves the door to the hallway open and silently crosses the floor to drop next to her on the bed. He's looking down, staring at his hands.

Eventually, as Alicia watches, Carter's hands begin to shake. Without hesitation, she reaches over and takes one of them in hers. "She'll be OK, Carter. She and Mira will both be OK."

He shakes his head. "She's too good for me, you know? Too innocent. Too sweet."

"Carter, you don't give yourself enough credit. Contrary to popular belief and misconception, you are not a bad guy. Do you honestly think I'd let you near Gracie if I thought you were?" She squeezes his hand. "She's young, and she's a fighter. She'll be there when we get home."

"Promise?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

With that, he laughs softly. He tenses again after a moment, though. "Can I stay here for a while, Wash? Do you mind?"

"I don't mind at all, Carter, and you can stay as long as you need to. Older brother, remember?"

In most any other situation, he probably would have snorted at that, but this time, he just sinks back. He holds her hand in silence until they both fall asleep leaned against the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Fill for a LiveJournal Friday one word prompt - "Quarantined" for Wash and Elisabeth. Was originally imagined as a few chapters, but bloomed into six. Story is complete and previously published on LJ.

Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense – just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.

Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine (except Gracie, of course), just borrowing.

_Outpost Three, OTG_

At the sound of a snort, Alicia jerks awake. Blinking, she looks up towards the source of the noise. She is startled to see, less than a foot away from her own face, the smirking face of Jim Shannon. Instinctively, she pulls back; unfortunately, she's still leaned against the wall, so she bangs her head against it, making her utter a very colorful curse.

That makes Shannon laugh. "Do you kiss your daughter with that mouth, Lieutenant?"

She glares at him, and she tries to lift her right hand to rub the back of her head where it collided with the wall. In doing so, she realizes what Shannon was snorting about. Carter is literally asleep on her arm. She rolls her eyes at Shannon and yanks her arm free, making Carter start and sit up.

After a moment of assessing the situation, he looks vaguely sheepish. "Sorry, Wash."

Shaking her hand to get the circulation going again, she stands up. "What time is it?"

"A little before sunrise," Shannon answers with a grin, "Reilly and I woke up and both noticed that Carter's bed wasn't slept in, so we both went looking for him. I just feel really, really lucky that I'm the one who got to stumble upon this."

Carter shoots Shannon a death glare, but Wash is more direct. "Shut up, Shannon."

She grabs her pack and stalks out of the room to the bathroom, grumbling all the way. En route, she passes a puzzled-looking Reilly. "Ma'am, have you seen…" Alicia keeps walking, just silently pointing back towards the door to her room.

As she enters the bathroom, she hears more laughter from Shannon and also from Reilly, accompanied by grumbles from Carter. She rolls her eyes as she pulls the door closed behind her.

When she emerges a short while later, hair brushed and the like, the group has moved into the kitchen area. Since she already has the directions to where to find the plants they need, she just grabs a piece of fruit and some water.

"Feel better, Wash?"

She turns to see Shannon's grinning face. She growls, "I felt fine before, Shannon." Then, she heads to the sink to wash out her water glass.

He follows, his hands up in a placating manner. "OK, OK. But seriously, Wash, what was that about?"

She turns back to him. "How would you feel if Elisabeth was getting sick, Shannon? How would I feel if it was Nathaniel? He just needed a friend." Shannon blinks a little at her serious tone, and she goes on, "I know you two live to give each other a hard time, but this time, Jim, give him a break. He's scared for Skye. That's not something to mock."

Shannon frowns a little, especially at her calling him by his given name. "I'm sorry, Wash, and you're right. I'll ease off." He pauses and gives her a mischievous look. "But when this is over, and Skye and the others are fine, can I mock you two then?"

They both jump at the sound of Carter's voice. "Only if you don't value your life, Shannon."

Turning to him, Alicia can see that he's scowling at Shannon, but under that, she sees a glimmer of gratitude. Shannon must notice it as well, because he just shoots Carter a shit-eating grin and leaves it alone.

Shannon then goes to leave, but as he passes Carter, Carter nails him on the arm. Shannon gives Carter a hard look, then they both laugh, leaving the room together. Alicia stares after them, shaking her head and muttering, "Men," before following them out the door.

She catches up with them and tells them to head out to the rhino to make sure it's ready to go while she checks in with Nathaniel. They both look ready to argue with her, but she just gives them both a hard look, and they turn and go, both grumbling under their breath. She allows herself a small moment of glee at her own ability to send those two packing with nothing more than a glare, then heaves a deep breath as she goes to radio the colony, hoping for decent news.

_Terra Nova Infirmary_

"We're leaving to get the plants now, Nathaniel, and then we'll head straight back there. We've got everything with us, so we won't need to stop back here on our way. I'd say, barring any major issues, we'll be back there shortly after noon."

Nathaniel listens to Alicia, nodding. "Sounds good, Alicia. Malcolm is holding his own, though the coughing gets worse by the moment. Elisabeth seemed to think he has time."

A moment later, her voice comes back across the connection. "And how are the rest of you, Nathaniel?"

"Skye has worsened slightly, but she's actually better than Elisabeth expected. Mira is struggling, but she's still in better shape than Malcolm. She's on oxygen, and that seems to be helping considerably. The rest of us are OK." He winces slightly at his white lie, turning off his microphone temporarily as he muffles a cough.

"Glad to hear it. I'll report back to Shannon and Carter that Elisabeth and Skye are both all right. Unless we encounter trouble, we won't call again until we're closing in on the colony. All of you take care of yourselves, Nathaniel. Tell the Bug I love her if you talk to her, OK?"

He turns the mike back on. "Will do."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Alicia. Be careful. Terra Nova out."

As the connection ends, he isn't surprised to hear Elisabeth's rebreather-muffled voice. "She's going to kill you when she gets back."

He turns to find Elisabeth standing right behind him, her arms crossed and a stern expression on what he can see of her face. He sighs, and that causes him to cough a little more. When he catches his breath, he tries and fails at looking contrite. "I know she will, Elisabeth, but at this point, she's better off not knowing. And I'm only in the very early stages, you said so yourself."

She shakes her head at him. "You're in better shape than Mira, and you're about the same as Skye, which, considering that you didn't even show traces of the toxin until late last night and Skye showed the traces almost immediately, bears out what I said about age being a factor in your body's ability to fight this off once you have it. Like it or not, I'm going to put you on oxygen sooner rather than later."

He frowns at that. "I'm fine, Elisabeth."

"No, Nathaniel," she gives him a pointed look, "You're not. You clearly already have some congestion in your lungs, and I'm betting you also have a temperature."

"No, I don't."

She steps towards him, pulling a small, old fashioned ear thermometer from the pocket of her lab coat. She snaps a cover on it. "Fine. I'll give you a chance to prove it." Before he can move away, she puts it in his ear. After a few moments, he hears a beep. She pulls it back and nods as she looks at it. "100.9. To a biobed. Now."

He shakes his head, unwilling to give in to her just yet. "Elisabeth, I'm staying here in case the OTG team needs to call in for some reason."

"Alicia just said they won't call unless there's a problem." She pins him with her eyes.

"Yes, she did, and if there's a problem, I'll be here to take the call." Still seated, he meets her look with an equally pointed one and crosses his arms across his chest.

She expels a frustrated breath. "You are a stubborn ass."

"See, now that I actually agree with, Doc." He grins.

She rolls her eyes at that. "Here's the deal, _Commander_, either you let me hook you up to an I.V. to at least keep you hydrated and you let me put you on oxygen via a nasal cannula, or I will tranq you when you least expect it and have Skye and Nurse Ogawa help me drag your ass to a biobed." No question, his wife is definitely rubbing off on the good doctor.

He glares at her for a moment before relenting. "Deal, _Doc_."

She smirks at him. "Which one are you taking?"

At that, he can't help but chuckle, which of course makes him cough. When he's done, waving off her attempts to assist him, he gives her a game smile. "The first one."

"Done, Nathaniel. I'll be back with the I.V. and the oxygen. I'm also bringing food. I know you probably aren't all that hungry. Malcolm and Skye aren't either, but you need to eat." She turns and leaves before he can argue.

He turns back to the communications set up, and he realizes there's something he should do before Elisabeth gets him hooked up to the drip and the oxygen. He taps his comm. "Taylor to Reynolds, come in Corporal."

A moment later, he hears Reynolds' voice. "Yes, sir?"

"Can you get the Bug to a camera and a monitor?"

"Yes, sir. We still have it set up from last night. Should I call you when she's ready?"

"That'll work. Thanks, Corporal. Taylor out."

A moment later, the comm chirps again. Nathaniel takes a few drinks of water as he reaches out to turn on the monitor and camera, hoping to keep the coughs at bay. He taps his comm. "Ready, Corporal?"

"Yes, sir. We just powered up the camera, dialed in to your monitor."

Nathaniel nods and does the same with his. "Same here."

Suddenly, his monitor lights up, and he's greeted by the image of his two-and-a-half year old, with his eyes blinking at him from a toddler-sized version of Alicia's face. She looks sleepy, and she's still in her pajamas, her curly black pigtails slightly askew and her stuffed dinosaur clutched tight in her little hand. "Daddy!"

He grins. "Hi Bug. How are you this morning?"

"Sweepy. No. Suh-leepy!"

She looks very proud of herself, and he has to smile. She's been working very hard on pronouncing Rs and Ls, though she isn't always successful. "Good job, Bug."

She preens a little in front of the camera. "Thank you, Daddy! How you this morning?"

He hears the door open behind him, and he guesses that Elisabeth is back. He doesn't acknowledge her, just goes on talking to Gracie. "I'm good, Bug. I just wanted to tell you that I talked to Mama this morning. She'll be back early this afternoon, OK?"

"'K, Daddy. You home soon too?"

His heart breaks a little at the hope in her wide blue eyes. "As soon as I can, little Bug. For now, I have to stay here and help your Aunt Elisabeth look after Aunt Skye, Aunt Mira and Uncle Malcolm, just like I told you last night."

"They feel better soon?" He sees her clutch her dinosaur close to her chest.

He nods. "Very soon, Bug. And I have to go now. Aunt Elisabeth needs me."

"OK, Daddy. Have a good day. Hug Auntie Wisabeth,'K?"

"I'll do that. Love you, Little Bug, and your Mama loves you too."

"Love you, Daddy." She waves at the camera as he does the same, and then, after he looks down into the camera to get an affirmative nod from Nathaniel, Reynolds cuts the feed.

Nathaniel powers down the camera and monitor. He drops his hand and just stares at the blank screen, thinking to himself that he'd give just about anything to hug his little girl right now. A moment later, he feels Elisabeth's hand squeeze his shoulder. "They'll be back soon, Nathaniel, and we're all going to be OK."

He nods mutely, and he holds out his arm for Elisabeth to put in his I.V. After she inserts the needle, he grumbles, "If we aren't, you get to tell Gracie."

"Or we could make Skye do it. Gracie likes Skye." Elisabeth smiles, taping down his I.V. line. "But it won't be necessary." She takes his hand and squeezes it.

He turns back to the blank monitor as Elisabeth gets his oxygen ready. "I hope not, Elisabeth."

_Seven Hours Later_

"Washington to Terra Nova, come in." Gripping the wheel of the rhino, Alicia radios the colony. They're about ten minutes out from the gate, and she wants to alert the people in the infirmary that they're close.

One of the soldiers on communications responds. "Yes, ma'am, this is Private Carson at Terra Nova. Would you like to be transferred to the secondary communications in the infirmary?"

"Affirmative, Private."

After a few moments, she hears the Private's voice again. "Transferring you now, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Private." After a click, Alicia says, "Nathaniel, is that you?"

Alicia is surprised to hear a female voice respond. "No, Alicia, it's Elisabeth. Taylor isn't in communications right now."

Furrowing her brow, Alicia immediately knows something is wrong. "What's going on, Elisabeth? Where is Nathaniel? No way would he willingly leave communications this morning."

"Alicia, he's asleep right now." Elisabeth sounds hesitant, and Alicia feels dread pooling in her stomach.

"Elisabeth is he OK?" At her words, she can tell that Shannon, riding shotgun, turns his head towards her sharply. She also senses Reilly and Carter sitting forward as if to listen.

"He's been infected, Alicia. I'm sorry. I've got him on oxygen and an I.V. His fever spiked up to 102.7 about an hour ago. I gave him a fever reducer and a med for his cough, codeine-based. Given that he barely slept last night, it knocked him out a bit." At Alicia's silence, Elisabeth adds, "He's all right, Alicia. It's not that bad yet."

Alicia's hands grip the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles begin to go white. "What aren't you telling me, Elisabeth?"

She hears a sigh. "It's moving faster in him. He's sicker than Skye and catching up with Mira. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, though."

Despite her attempts to hold them back, Alicia feels those damned uncharacteristic tears prick at her eyes again. She blinks rapidly, focusing on the terrain in front of them. Her upset must be clear, because she feels Carter's hand on her shoulder and Shannon's on her knee, both squeezing gently. "Don't bullshit me, Elisabeth."

"I'm not, Alicia. If you're almost here, and you have the plant, all of them, Malcolm included, will be fine."

"Are you still OK? Because I'm guessing we're going to need you to get the plants ready." She looks over at Shannon as she speaks.

"I'm still clear. Skye's also still on her feet and doing all right, so she's going to help me synthesize the medication, with some input over comms from Malcolm's staff."

"All right, Elisabeth. I'm glad you and Skye are still doing OK, and that you're still completely clear." She hears Carter and Shannon both sigh in relief.

"He'll be all right, Alicia."

"He better be, because I want him healthy when I kick his ass for not telling me he was sick. I'm a firm believer in fair fights, you know."

"I know, Alicia. You're almost here?"

"Five minutes, Elisabeth."

"Then we'll see you soon. Shannon out."

As Alicia hits her comm to end the call, Shannon says, "Taylor?"

She nods stiffly. "He didn't tell me this morning. He's already as sick as Mira."

She feels Carter's hand squeeze her shoulder again. "Wash, he's tough and he's a fighter. He'll be there when we get home."

Smiling a little, she recognizes her own words from the night before. "Promise?"

He squeezes again. "As a matter of fact, I do."

As the colony comes into view, she swallows hard and nods. "OK, then."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.  
**

After unloading the plants from the back of the rhino, Alicia turns to face Reynolds, who was waiting at the gate for them when they came roaring in. "Is Gracie at school?"

He nods. "I figured that it was better to send her. Maddy is at Malcolm's lab, ready to assist, along with the other science staff, with anything Dr. Shannon needs over the comms."

"How are we getting the plants into the infirmary?" As she asks, Carter and Shannon come to stand next to her.

"We have a makeshift airlock set up, but someone is going to need to get into a bio-contamination suit and take it in."

Before Shannon or Carter can volunteer, Alicia says, "Then let's get me suited up, Mark."

Fifteen minutes later, she's encased in the bio suit and heading for the infirmary. She carries the plant material they need to synthesize the cure in a large bag. At least the suit is relatively comfortable, made of a light, non-porous material. She can move well in it, and it's not bulky, though the helmet, gloves and suit make everything feel slightly muffled.

She takes a moment to stare at her wrists and the material binding her gloves to the bio suit. She can't help but be amused by the fact that no matter how much tech they'd had back in the 22nd century, the best sealant they still used for things like this is duct tape.

They still have a decent amount of it left, but when he recovers, she's going to point out to Malcolm that they really need to work on a replacement. Of course, the fact that they still have some left three years after blowing up the portal makes her wonder just how much they'd gotten sent here in the first place.

She arrives at the infirmary. As she passes into the airlock area (which she notes is constructed with the use of more duct tape), she finds herself holding her breath, suddenly nearly overcome with worry as to how Nathaniel will be doing when she gets inside.

She stands in the airlock after the door closed behind her, and she none-too-patiently waits for the lock on it to cycle shut. A moment later, she hears Reynolds' voice in her ear. "Wash, ma'am, you're good to go in. We've got a good seal on the airlock."

"Thanks, kid." She steps up, and at the push of a button, the door to the infirmary slides open.

Just beyond the threshold, Elisabeth stands waiting, still wearing a rebreather. Alicia approaches her, smiling through the faceplate of the bio suit. Elisabeth looks exhausted but otherwise well.

Nurse Ogawa is also waiting there, and she takes the bag of the plant material from Alicia. With a nod to Elisabeth, the nurse leaves, heading for the lab with the bag. Once the nurse is gone, Alicia asks, "How are you, Elisabeth?"

"I'm OK, Alicia. Tired. It's been a very long twenty-four hours. Now follow me." She motions with her head towards the rooms at the back of the infirmary. Alicia follows. "We separated them, mainly because it makes it easier for them to sleep. They all kept coughing and waking each other up."

"Elisabeth." Elisabeth stops walking, turning back to Alicia. "How is everyone? Give me the run down first."

Elisabeth nods. "Quickly, as I need to get to work on the medication for this. Skye is doing great. A light cough, some congestion, but little worse than a bad cold. Mira is struggling, and so is Nathaniel."

Alicia lifts an eyebrow. She's never heard Elisabeth call Nathaniel by his name before. Elisabeth smiles. "He told me to call him that. He's told me several times before, too, but suddenly, in this situation, standing on ceremony felt a bit silly. Anyway, they're struggling, but they're holding their own. Both are on oxygen and I.V. fluids for now."

Realizing that Elisabeth hasn't mentioned one person, Alicia says, "And Malcolm?"

Elisabeth sighs. "I just had to intubate him, Alicia. His sats were just too low. I've sedated him. Whatever we come up with, he gets it first. He's running out of time."

"How long?"

"Twelve hours at the most, probably less." She meets Alicia's eyes, fear in her own, and Alicia remembers that Elisabeth has known Malcolm for a long time.

"Then we have time, Elisabeth. And I know how all this stuff works, the machines and such. I'll stay and help Nurse Ogawa, and you and Skye can work." Alicia puts a gloved hand on Elisabeth's shoulder and squeezes.

Elisabeth attempts a smile, and she pats Alicia's hand with her own. "Now no more stalling, Alicia. He's going to be fine, and it's time for you to see him."

Alicia blinks. She starts to argue but finds that she can't. She's terrified about what she'll find when she enters his room. Instead of speaking, she just swallows hard and gives Elisabeth a nod. When they get to the door to one of the rooms towards the back of the infirmary, Elisabeth says, "Nurse Ogawa will come find you if she needs help with Malcolm or Mira. You stay with him."

Elisabeth reaches out and squeezes her hand and leaves. Alicia stares at the door in front of her for a moment, and then she takes a deep breath and pushes it open. After closing it behind her, she turns to the only occupied bed in the room. He appears to be asleep, now dressed in infirmary scrubs, an oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose. His face is pale, and even across the room, Alicia can hear that his breathing is somewhat labored.

Her bio suit rustles a little as she crosses the room to his bed, and he turns his head towards her and opens his eyes. She can tell that it takes a moment for him to realize that it's her in the suit, so she has time to get to him and perch on the edge of his bed before he can react.

She can see the moment when he knows it's her, because the curiosity in his face gives way to an odd combination of concern and contrition. That look alone melts away the lingering irritation she feels about his choosing not to be honest with her about his condition.

Blinking back tears, the stoic look she'd been trying to maintain is gone in an instant. She gives him a weak smile. "So, soldier, come here often?"

He starts to laugh at that, but the laugh quickly morphs into deep coughs. He sits forward as he coughs, and she puts a gloved hand on his back, rubbing gently. When the coughing fit subsides, he glares at her a little, and she raises an eyebrow at him. "For the time being, that will serve as your punishment for hiding this from me. Later, when you're back on your feet, I'll kick your ass properly."

He lifts his oxygen mask. "Understood. And I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to worry, Alicia. It's not like there's anything you could have done, and it didn't even present until late last night."

She takes the mask from him and places it back over his mouth and nose. Then, she cups his cheek with her hand, frustrated that she can't touch him without the gloves. From the look in his eyes, she can tell that it's important to him that she forgive him for this, which, without question, she does. She brushes her thumb across his cheek. "It's OK, Nathaniel. I'm not going to promise not to rough you up next time we're in a sparring ring, but beyond that, it's OK."

He just nods, probably knowing that she won't let him take the mask off again. Through it, he says, "You shouldn't be here. Too dangerous."

She shakes her head, continuing to stroke his cheek with her thumb. "That's why I'm in the suit, Nathaniel. I'm perfectly safe, and I'm not going anywhere."

"I could order you." He smirks at her through the mask.

She rolls her eyes. "You and what army? And it's not military. No orders allowed."

He smiles briefly, but then his eyes turn serious. His hand comes up and grasps hers. "Alicia, please go. I don't want you to end up sick too."

She shakes her head again, pulling their joined hands to her chest. "I'm not leaving here, Nathaniel. I'm not leaving you." She sees his eyelids start to flutter, and she can tell that's he's exhausted. "Now stop talking. You need to rest. I'm going to go check on Malcolm and Mira, and I'll be back."

He nods and mumbles something she doesn't understand, and then he drops into a fitful sleep. Despite her intention to go make sure Nurse Ogawa doesn't need any help, she can't pull away yet. Instead, she sits there holding his hand and methodically running her free hand through his hair. After she does so for a while, he settles down and his sleep becomes deeper, less troubled. She relaxes slightly and watches him sleep, losing track of time.

Eventually, she blinks, realizing that she should go check on Elisabeth and the others. She disentangles her hand from his and, after gently caressing his face, she stands up and slips quietly out of the room. When she gets into the hallway, she has to stop a moment to lean against the wall and gulp in some of the stale air being filtered into her bio suit. She has always worried too much when he is hurt or sick, and this is no exception.

Looking up at the clock, she is amazed to see that she sat there holding his hand and watching him sleep for over an hour. She sighs and straightens up, heading for Elisabeth's lab. Before she can get there, she hears the scream of an alarm, and she immediately turns and runs for the source of the sound.

Her path takes her to Malcolm's bedside, and she's met by an anxious Nurse Ogawa. "His sats dropped again, and his BP is plummeting, Lieutenant."

Taking in the pallor of Malcolm's face and his fading vitals, Alicia looks at the nurse. "Go get Dr. Shannon, now!"

The nurse takes off for the lab, and Alicia stands there, watching as her friend drifts away. Suddenly, the lab goes dark. She immediately hits her comm, praying it will work. "Reynolds, what the hell?"

Reynolds' voice comes back immediately. "Wash, it's colony-wide. We've got the separate generator on communications, have since the meteor a few years ago. We've already found the problem, one of the lines down. You'll be back in a few minutes."

"That's too long, Mark!"

She realizes that Malcolm isn't breathing. "Elisabeth! Nurse Ogawa! Skye! I need help!"

Elisabeth skids into the room, heading immediately to Malcolm's side. She pulls the feed off of his ventilator and grabs an old-fashioned bag to help him breathe, squeezing it every few seconds. In between squeezes, she checks for a pulse.

"Alicia, his heart has stopped!"

Elisabeth is as close to panic as Alicia has ever seen her, but Alicia's field training kicks in. She eyes the biobed and realizes that it's too high for any of them to give him CPR. She nods, knowing what she needs to do. "Keep bagging him, Elisabeth." Before Elisabeth can argue, Alicia jumps up on to the biobed, straddles Malcolm and starts manual CPR.

Unfortunately, as she climbs up, she feels her bio suit catch on something on the bed, and the ripping sound she hears makes her own heart skip a beat. She ignores the tear for now, focusing on Malcolm. She can't even remember how many times she's done this on a moving stretcher, keeping a soldier alive until he or she could be medevac'd out.

As she and Elisabeth count off breathing and heart pumps, they both wait anxiously for the power to return. A minute later, the lights blink back on, and Alicia scrambles off of the bed. The biobed's monitor starts whining a flat line. Elisabeth hooks Malcolm's vent back up to the oxygen feed, and, calling, "Clear!" she presses a button on the side of the table, shocking Malcolm.

A moment later, his heart is beating again, a slow but steady beat from the monitor. "Oh, thank God." Elisabeth slumps back against the table.

Alicia smiles, but then she looks down at her suit. She's dismayed to see a large, three-corner tear in it on her arm, and a cut bleeding underneath. After reaching out to grab a piece of gauze off the cart next to the bed, Alicia holds it to the cut and says, "I really hope you're almost done with the medicine."

"Maybe 30 minutes, tops." Elisabeth looks up, and seeing the cut, she frowns. "Damn it, Alicia."

"Sorry, Elisabeth. It caught on the bed. I guess I can take the suit off now."

Elisabeth goes over and gets another rebreather off of a shelf, and she drags Alicia to her office. Once there, she helps Alicia pull the suit off until Alicia stops her. "Elisabeth, go. Finish the medicine. This cut isn't deep, it's just long. Go."

She looks stubborn for a moment, staring at Alicia. Then, she nods and turns, exiting the office. Alicia finishes pulling the suit off, and she cleans and bandages her arm. She taps her comm. "Mark?"

"Yes ma'am?"

She thinks that he must be sitting right on top of the comm. "Small problem here. We had to give Malcolm regular CPR, and when I climbed up on his biobed, I tore my suit. I'm stuck here now too, until we have a medicine and it's effective."

After a moment of silence, Reynolds says, "Understood ma'am. Let me know if there's anything you need."

"Will do, kid. Washington out."

Alicia ends the call and, pulling on the rebreather, she exits Elisabeth's office. She heads back to Nathaniel's room. When she gets there, he's still sleeping. She perches on the edge of his bed again, this time able to actually touch his face and thread her fingers into his hair.

The contact startles him awake, and he blinks at her for a moment. He smiles briefly, but then he clearly notices that she's not in her suit anymore. He furrows his brow and reaches for his mask.

She stops him. "We lost power, and Malcolm was coding. I tore the suit climbing up on his bed to administer CPR. I'm stuck here now too. I'm sorry, Nathaniel. I…" She thinks about Gracie, and one of the treacherous tears that she's been holding back finally escapes. It weaves its way down her cheek, and he reaches up to brush it away.

When she speaks again, her voice is barely a whisper. "Elisabeth said they're only about 30 minutes away from finishing the medicine."

Without a word, he just nods and scoots over to one side of the bed. She gives him a puzzled look, but then he motions to the small empty space he just created. That prompts a weak smile from her. She takes the hint and crawls up next to him on the bed, carefully minding his oxygen and I.V. lines. She curls up on her side, resting her head on his shoulder and putting one hand on his chest.

As she feels his hand pull her hair free of its ponytail and his fingers thread through the strands, she sighs. "We'll be OK. We'll both be OK."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.**

Curled into his side, Alicia can tell when Nathaniel goes back to sleep. His whole body relaxes, and his labored breathing evens out slightly. She stays where she is, her hand clutched in his scrub top, head resting on his shoulder. As much as she's happy to be able to touch him without the gloves on, she's also sitting here mentally berating herself for not being more careful. She knows she could have checked to be sure she could jump up on the table without damaging her suit or herself, but in the moment, she'd just wanted to help Malcolm as quickly as possible.

She gets lost in thought, brooding on her mistake and knowing she needs to be more thoughtful because they have Gracie to consider. She's so preoccupied, she doesn't hear the door open behind her. A moment later, she jumps when a hand grasps her shoulder.

"Sorry, Alicia." Alicia turns to see Elisabeth standing there, looking contrite. "We've finished the drug, and I was wondering if you could help me run an I.V. for Nurse Ogawa, Skye and the two other patients?"

Alicia carefully disentangles herself from Nathaniel. He stirs slightly but then settles again as she gets to her feet. "Sure, Elisabeth. And don't you and I both need them as well?"

Elisabeth nods. "I'll get Nurse Ogawa to run yours." At Alicia's strange look, Elisabeth holds out her hands. They're shaking slightly. "I got Nurse Ogawa to rest some yesterday, but I haven't slept at all. The tremors started two hours ago, right after we helped Malcolm. Seems the adrenaline rush and then its subsiding made my body sort out just how tired it is."

"Damn it, Elisabeth." Alicia does something she rarely does, steps forward and wraps the smaller woman up in a hug. After a moment, she steps back. Her mind catches up, and she asks, "It's been two hours? Have you already given the medication to Malcolm?"

With a small smile, Elisabeth replies, "Over an hour ago. Before we sedated him this morning, he asked to be the test case. Demanded it, really. He's already responding. The level of the toxin in his blood has already been cut in half, and his breathing is easing. Mira told us that the infection can subside quickly, but I had no idea it would be this quickly. That said, his chest is still very congested. I think he'll be recovering for a while. But no nasty side effects thus far."

"Do you have the dose for…" Alicia begins to ask about the medication for Nathaniel.

Elisabeth wordlessly answers by simply holding out a syringe. "Just inject into the I.V. port. We might be able to do this via our usual hypos, but honestly, going in gradually is probably a little easier on the system."

Alicia takes it and walks around the bed to Nathaniel's I.V. pole. She injects the liquid into the port and drops a kiss on his forehead. After cupping his cheek in her palm and looking at him for a moment, Alicia steps away, back over to Elisabeth.

"How is Skye doing?"

"She's tired but OK. We need to run her I.V. and get her medicated."

Alicia eyes the comfortable chair in the corner of the room. She goes over to it and then pushes it close to Nathaniel's bed. "I want you to take a break, Elisabeth, and Skye needs to as well." Elisabeth starts to argue, but Alicia isn't having it. "You're about to drop. I want you in a bed, now. I'll run your I.V., and I'll sedate you if necessary. I'm going to ask Skye if she'll hang out here so Nathaniel doesn't wake up alone."

Elisabeth looks stubborn for a moment, but then she just nods. "I'll go crash in the bed near Malcolm's." Alicia frowns, but Elisabeth says, "That's my condition. I'll agree to take a break, but I want to stay near him in case he goes into distress again."

Alicia motions towards the door. "Fair enough. Let's go. We'll get your I.V. run, and I'll get your dose on board. I assume it's a smaller dose for contact patients? Maybe 5 mls?" Elisabeth smiles as they exit the room, and Alicia gets a little confused. "What?"

"I sometimes forget how well-trained you military medics are."

Alicia laughs. "They didn't have much choice. For units like ours, always out in the field, the medic had to be able to handle triage, emergency care, virology, infections, you name it. I even did a tracheotomy in the field once, with little more than a knife and a drinking straw."

Elisabeth grins at that. "Really? And the man is still alive?"

Alicia's face falls a little. "No. But he didn't die that day, it was in an ambush in Somalia two years later." Seeing Elisabeth about to apologize, Alicia stops and puts a hand on her arm. "It's OK, Elisabeth. It was a long time ago, and it was a war. That doesn't make me less sad about it, those guys were our family for a long time. But it does make it easier to reconcile, at least all these years later."

With a nod, Elisabeth turns again towards the area where Malcolm's bed is. Before they get there, they run into Skye and Nurse Ogawa. Alicia looks at Skye. "Skye, will you go sit with Nathaniel? We just gave him his meds, but he's still asleep. It'd be nice for him to see a friendly face if he wakes up. Nurse Ogawa or I will come and run your I.V. and give you your meds in a moment."

Skye looks happy to be asked. "Of course, Lieutenant." She turns and heads to Nathaniel's room.

"And Skye?"

Skye turns back to her. "Yes, ma'am?"

"If you haven't, call Carter. He was freaking out last night."

Skye coughs a little and blushes lightly. "I already did. And you're right, he really was freaking out." She smiles and goes.

"Nurse Ogawa, I'm going to run a line on Dr. Shannon. She's going to take a rest in the bed near Dr. Wallace's. Can I get the meds for her and for Mira, and will you please run a line on the other two patients and get them their meds?" The nurse looks at Alicia, slightly surprised. Alicia is amused when the nurse then looks at Elisabeth, clearly seeking an OK.

Elisabeth nods to the nurse, who exits quickly, Alicia assumes to get the supplies she needs. A few minutes later, Alicia has the line run on Elisabeth, and she's injecting the meds. "All right, you're all set, Elisabeth. I'm going to go give Mira her meds, then I'll go get Skye set up."

"And when will you get yours?" Elisabeth lifts an eyebrow at her.

"When everyone else is taken care of, I'm going to find Nurse Ogawa. I'll run hers and let her run mine. I promise."

"OK, Alicia." As she begins to turn away, Alicia feels Elisabeth's hand on her arm. "Thank you for the help."

"No problem, Elisabeth. Now sleep, please." Alicia smiles gently at her friend.

She heads for the room where she knows Mira is, syringe of medication in hand. She knocks lightly on the door when she gets there. Mira looks up, obviously tired but looking a little better than Nathaniel and a lot better than Malcolm. "Drug delivery."

"Wash, what the hell? Why are you here and why aren't you suited up? Taylor must be having kittens."

Alicia gives her a rueful smile as she approaches her I.V. stand to inject the meds. "He's not exactly happy, but he's too tired to be too mad at me. Anyway, I came in to deliver the plants, wearing the bio suit, but Malcolm coded just before we lost power earlier. I ripped my suit when I climbed up to do CPR. That's why I'm down to the rebreather. Once I was exposed," she holds up her arm to show off her bandage, "It didn't make much sense to stay in the suit."

"Is Malcolm OK, and what about Taylor and Skye?" Mira's concern doesn't really surprise Alicia, given how well the Sixers have been integrated into the colony.

Alicia injects the meds into Mira's I.V. "Malcolm is improving. Elisabeth gave him the meds over an hour ago, and the toxin is already diminishing in his bloodstream. Skye is OK, I'm about to go run her meds. Nathaniel is struggling, but I'm sure he'll be fine." She perches on the edge of the bed. "How are you?"

As if to answer, Mira coughs a little, putting her hand to her oxygen mask. After a moment, she says, "I'm not bad. Really learning to appreciate the tech you still have here. I would've been dead in our old set up. Without help, I'm pretty sure this isn't the kind of thing you beat twice."

Alicia nods. "Do you want a comm so you can talk to Guz?"

Mira seems to light up. "If it's all right, yeah, I really would."

"Of course it's all right. He's probably going nuts. I'll find you one and bring it or have Nurse Ogawa bring it." She takes Mira's hand. "I'm glad you're OK, Mira, and not just for Guz's sake."

Mira smiles and squeezes Alicia's hand. "Thanks, Wash. I hope Taylor starts improving soon." She smirks at Alicia. "Though I'd guess the old bastard is way too stubborn to let something as annoying as this beat him."

"Who're you calling a bastard?" Alicia smirks back.

Mira laughs. "No objection to the old thing, eh?"

Alicia releases her hand and shoots her a grin. "No comment. I'll find that comm for you. Take it easy, OK?"

"Thanks, Wash, and will do." Mira gives her a wave as she leaves.

*****

Thirty minutes later, after everyone has had their meds and been checked on, Alicia sinks into the chair next to Nathaniel's bed, careful not to pull on her own I.V. She and Nurse Ogawa just finished giving each other their meds. Alicia chuckles to herself. In all the years she's been here, Nurse Ogawa has always been Nurse Ogawa. Alicia is embarrassed to admit, even to herself, that she has no idea what the woman's first name is. She makes a mental note to ask Elisabeth or Nathaniel later.

The nurse is now taking a break in a chair between Malcolm and Elisabeth, and Skye, who just vacated the chair Alicia is in, left to go call Carter again. Alicia also took the comm to Mira, who was talking to Guz when Alicia left her.

She sighs and observes Nathaniel, who is still sleeping. While she's not thrilled that he's been asleep so long, she's encouraged by the fact that his color is already improving and his breathing is less labored. She rubs her hand across her eyes, relieved that the rebreather is gone.

The environmental sensors are showing no traces of the toxin, and now that she's getting the meds, Elisabeth endorsed all of them removing the rebreathers. Even with that, Alicia radioed Malcolm's science staff a moment ago and asked them to find a way to usefully aerosolize the plant so that they could spray down the infirmary. Once that's done, hopefully very soon, they'll be able to open the infirmary again.

Yawning, Alicia leans back in the chair. She has it situated so that she can reach Nathaniel's hand, so she takes it in hers, props her feet up on the edge of his bed, and lets her head drop back against the headrest of the chair.

She must have dropped off, because a while later, she is startled awake by a loud noise in the hallway. She notices that it's a little colder in the room and that the fans are blowing. A look at the window makes her realize that the sun has set. Looking over at Nathaniel, she sees that the noise also woke him up. After looking disoriented for a moment, he reaches for his oxygen mask and pulls it off.

She smiles at him, releasing his hand and standing up to take the mask and help him sit up in the bed. "How are you feeling?"

His voice still sounds congested, but she can tell that his breathing has improved significantly, if the readings on the biobed are accurate. "Better. It's a lot easier to breathe."

She sits on the edge of the bed. "Your sats are a lot better. Steady in the 90s, which is good. You were scaring me earlier."

"Sorry about that." He coughs a little, and he reaches for her. He grasps her waist and slides her closer to him. He slips his hand into her hair, gently tugging her forehead down to meet his. "Did they give you the drug too? Is that why you have the I.V. You didn't get sick too, did you?"

"No, I'm not sick. Smaller dose, just for contact. I'm fine, Nathaniel."

He nods, and then he pulls her even closer to him and presses his lips to hers. Even though she knows that shortness of breath for him will likely require that the kiss be short, she still presses her body to his and allows him to deepen the kiss.

As expected, he pulls back after a moment, but he's smiling when he does. He presses his forehead back to hers. "I'm really glad you're not sick, Alicia. I was almost physically ill when I saw you without the bio suit."

She sighs. "I'm so sorry, Nathaniel. I'm angry at myself for tearing the suit. I don't know what I was thinking." She looks down at her hands, starting to feel upset with herself again.

"Hey." He uses his hand to tilt her face back up to look at him. "You were thinking you needed to save Malcolm. And I'm glad you did. He's not just our lead scientist, he's our friend. I know you've likely been sitting here beating yourself up. Stop that now, Alicia. It's not like you were cavalier about the risk, and you didn't expose yourself on purpose."

She laughs softly. "You know me far too well, Nathaniel."

He smiles. "Well, it's been twenty years." He pauses briefly. "How is everyone else? Elisabeth? Skye? Mira?"

She stands up for a moment, removing her own I.V. line and bandaging the place where the line had gone in. "They're all either ok or they will be. Elisabeth is exhausted, but she never actually became sick. Also, neither the two patients who were here when this began nor Nurse Ogawa got sick. Mira is probably better, and Skye never showed much more than the symptoms of a bad cold. After Malcolm, you were definitely the sickest."

"I guess if something's worth doing, it's worth doing well."

She sits back down on the edge of his bed. "Not funny, Nathaniel."

He grows more serious again, his eyes meeting hers. "I know."

He's clearly about to kiss her again when they both look up sharply at the sound of voices out in the hall. A moment later, the door swings open. Alicia can't help but grin at the sight that greets her eyes. It's Mark Reynolds, and he has a clearly very sleepy toddler on his hip. She's dressed in her pajamas, has her stuffed dino in one hand, and the thumb of the other hand is in her mouth. Alicia feels bad about the latter, because these days, she only ever sucks her thumb when she's upset or scared.

In a flash, she's up off of the bed crossing the room to meet Reynolds. Gracie sees her, and by the time Alicia gets to them, Gracie is leaning away from Reynolds and stretching her little arms out for Alicia. Alicia takes her, and Gracie immediately clings to her with a small whimper. "Mama home."

Alicia looks up at Reynolds, a little surprised by how upset Gracie is. He gives Alicia an apologetic look. "Sorry, Wash. We'd told her you'd be back tonight, and when you got stuck here, well, it didn't go over well. She was pretty scared, especially when I had to tell her she couldn't talk to the Commander either."

Alicia nods. "Thanks for looking after her, Mark, and thank Maddy too."

He smiles. "It was nothing, ma'am." He leans down and kisses Gracie's forehead. "Good night, Bug."

Gracie clings tighter to Alicia, but in a tiny voice, she replies, "G'night Unca Mark."

He smiles at them again, and after giving Nathaniel a quick nod, he disappears out the door. Alicia turns back to the bed and carries Gracie over to Nathaniel's bedside. She sits back down next to Nathaniel, turning towards him a little.

Without releasing Alicia, Gracie looks Nathaniel over. Her eyes widen at the sight of his I.V., and she clings even tighter to Alicia. "What that?"

"Daddy wasn't feeling good, Bug, so Aunt Elisabeth gave him that to give him medicine."

Gracie is quiet for a moment, then she reaches for Nathaniel with the hand not clutching a dinosaur. He takes her in his lap, and she curls up on his chest. He coughs a little, and Gracie turns wide, wary eyes up to him. "Daddy feel better now?"

"I do, little Bug. I just have a cough now." As he speaks, he wraps an arm around Gracie and leans back into the bed.

"'K, Daddy." She gives him a smile, and then, clearly trusting that everything is fine, she clutches her dinosaur even closer, snuggles her head up under Nathaniel's chin and closes her eyes.

Alicia settles next to them, her arm going around both of them and her head resting on Nathaniel's shoulder. She feels Nathaniel relaxing into the bed, and she leans up and kisses his cheek. She whispers, "Go back to sleep, Nathaniel."

He nods and closes his eyes. In moments, she feels his breathing even out again. Not long after, Elisabeth appears in the doorway, obviously coming to check on Nathaniel. She looks surprised at the picture they present.

Alicia catches Elisabeth's eye, and Elisabeth just mouths, "Good night, and call if you need me."

Alicia shoots her a grateful smile and mouths back, "I will. Good night."

Elisabeth turns out the light as she leaves, and Alicia settles back down next to Nathaniel, sighing quietly and closing her eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine, just borrowing.**

_Ten Days Later_

It's Friday morning, and Alicia is leaning against the rail in one of the guard towers on the north end of the colony. She and Carter came out here earlier to check out a reported hole in the fence, and after they'd been able to find and mend the hole themselves, she sent Carter back towards command, telling him she'd be back later.

This guard tower isn't presently manned, and it grants a nice view of their fields and some of the mountains beyond the fence. The railing of this tower is pretty wide, so she hops up on it, leaning back against one of the roof supports as she sits cross-legged for balance.

It's been over a week since the group in the infirmary was infected with the toxin Malcolm had been studying. Malcolm isn't allowed back to work until Monday, and he's still recovering and occasionally short of breath. Skye only had to take it easy for a couple of days, but Elisabeth had benched both Nathaniel and Mira for a full week. They're both back on duty now, which is a good thing, as they were driving Alicia and Guz both nuts.

The whole experience shook all of them up. She has it on good authority that Carter and Guz are both about a breath away from proposing to Skye and Mira, respectively. She smiles at that thought and muses that if she was a betting woman, she'd put money on Guz and Mira being married inside of a month.

Alicia sighs as she gazes out over the fields, lost in thought. The experience with the toxin left Alicia feeling far more shaken than she likes. Nathaniel is fine now, the cough even mostly gone. But everything that happened brought a truth to light, one she really wasn't ready to face.

She's been moody ever since, even quieter than usual. She knows that Nathaniel has noticed that something is wrong – he misses precious little – but he seems to be giving her space. She just feels uneasy. She sighs again and uncrosses her legs, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.

"I have no idea how you manage to sit like that." Nathaniel's voice makes her jump a little, and she has to grip the edge of the rail to not fall.

She looks up in surprise, and she's dismayed to see that he's less than two feet from her. He's reaching for her as if he intends to steady her. She shoots him a glare, and he drops his hands, chuckling.

They look at each other for a moment before he turns serious. "You know, I've guessed that something was wrong, that you were distracted, but now I have confirmation. If you didn't have something on your mind, there's no way I'd have been able to sneak up on you like that." He tentatively closes the distance between them, his expression one of concern. "What's going on, Alicia?"

She briefly considers trying to put him off, but she knows she needs to talk about what's been bothering her. She expels a nervous breath, closes her eyes and pinches her nose between her thumb and forefinger. "I don't know how to talk about it, Nathaniel." She feels his hands grip her upper arms, and she opens her eyes again.

He's standing directly in front of her now, and she turns on the rail to face him, letting her feet dangle in front of her. He looks at her, his eyes concerned and almost pleading. "Try, Alicia."

"I just wasn't prepared for what happened, Nathaniel. I'm prepared for us to be threatened by things like dinosaurs. But toxic plants that attack your respiratory system? That I wasn't prepared for."

"OK, I'll allow that it was out of left field and pretty damned scary, but I don't think that's what this is about." He pins her with his eyes.

She blinks, and suddenly, she can't maintain eye contact. She folds her hands in her lap and she looks down, studying them intently. His hands tighten on her arms. Taking a deep breath, she softly says, "I talked to Elisabeth, Nathaniel. I know this probably hit you like it did because of your age, that Skye was infected long before you were, and she barely even had a low grade fever."

"Alicia, I…" he begins to speak, but she shakes her head vigorously, eyes still turned down.

She finds that she can't look at him as she speaks. She's always hated showing weakness, showing vulnerability, and last week left her feeling more vulnerable than she's felt since being pregnant with Gracie. "Intellectually, I've always known that chances are pretty good that I'll outlive you, barring being eaten by a damned carno or something along those lines. But knowing something in your head and dealing with the potential reality of that are two very different things. And frankly, it's a truth I wasn't ready to consider, a truth I wasn't ready to face."

She continues to stare at her hands. "You know, I had my mom until I was 14, but outside of that, I'd never had anyone or anything constant in my life. I never relied on people or things." She finally looks back up at him, this time with tears in her eyes. "Then you stumbled into my life and the medical tent, bleeding and grinning like a damned cheshire cat. You dragged me out of that tent with you that day, and I never looked back."

She swallows a sob. "After that, you didn't just make me part of your unit. You took me home with you when we were on leave, made sure I wasn't spending breaks alone, everything. I don't know if you understood then, hell, I don't know if you understand _now _what that meant to me. You gave me a family. You made me part of your family. My heart broke when Ayani died, but not just because of what I knew it did to you. My heart also broke because I felt like I'd lost my sister and my nephew in one fell swoop."

He's silent, clearly surprised by her intensity. She wipes at her eyes. "Nathaniel, the truth is that I've loved you since I was nineteen years old. I may have only been _in _love with you since we started preparing to come here, but I've loved you for more than half of my life. Early on, it was as a friend and mentor. Then it was as a friend and colleague, a friend and fellow combatant."

She pauses, taking another deep breath. "But for more than twenty years, Nathaniel, you've been there, even when you weren't physically there. You're my constant." Her voice drops to a whisper. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to function without you. I don't think I'd even know where to start." A few tears roll down her cheeks then, and she stops trying to wipe them away.

Instead of saying anything, he just pulls her from her perch on the rail and hugs her tight to his body. They stand there for quite some time, long enough for Alicia to get her tears under control.

"You'd start with Gracie, Alicia. She's where you'd start, and I know that. When I thought you were dead before, I was lost. I tried to focus on the colony, on what I still had, but I couldn't. I was completely adrift." He leans back to meet her eyes, his filled with tears this time. "But for either of us, I know Gracie would be what would make us survive. She'd be the anchor we'd need."

She nods and buries her face in his chest. "Deep down, I know that, Nathaniel, but I need you, too. I'd be able to be there for her, able to keep getting out of bed, but I'm not sure what I'd be able to manage beyond that."

"Touché." He hugs her tight to him again. "For what it's worth, Alicia, I've loved you from the moment you first stitched me up and managed, with your rather deft use of eye rolls, sighs and glares, to be deferential and insubordinate at the same time. To this day, I still don't know how you pulled it off, but there was no way I was leaving that tent without you right behind me. I just knew that was how it had to be."

He then leans back to catch her eyes again. "But there's more to it than that, Alicia. The truth is that if there had been no Ayani then, I would've been a goner for you in about half a heartbeat. I'd even venture to guess that if I'd met you and Ayani at the same time, as much as I would've admired her light and joy and wonder, you would've been the one I chose."

She's shocked at that, and it must show on her face. "I don't regret loving Ayani, Alicia. The simple truth is that she was my opposite. Light where I was dark, joyful and innocent where I was jaded and cautious. She changed me, made me lighter. She was the love of my life, in that romantic, love story kind of way."

Alicia nods and looks away briefly. She'd known that, but it doesn't make it easier to hear. He won't let her shy away, though.

He uses his fingers to tip her face back to his, and he kisses her gently, a soft, lingering caress of his lips against hers. "But love of my life or not, Alicia, she wasn't my soul mate. She may have accepted me, but she didn't always understand me – and I was fine with that. If she'd understood me, it would've stolen some of her light, some of her joy."

He kisses her again. "But you, Alicia. You see me. You always have. You saw me and knew exactly how to push every single one of my buttons from moment one."

Holding her face in his palm, he brushes his thumb across her cheek. "So, while Ayani may have been the love of my life, you, Alicia, you're my soul mate. I think I knew that in the medical tent the day I met you. Keeping you near me was selfish on my part. Back then, every romantic thought was for Ayani, but I needed you too, and so I kept you close, probably ultimately driving away any man who dared to try to get close to you."

She can't speak. To say he shocked her with that confession would be a massive understatement. He's the one to drop his eyes now. "Part of why I pulled away from you a little right after she died was out of guilt. I felt guilty for loving you, even though we were never inappropriate, even though it was never a betrayal of Ayani. But when I found out that you'd survived, the relief I felt was so immediate, so deep…I hated myself for it."

He pauses, clearly, given the sadness in his face, thinking back on that time. Then, he smiles. "But one day, not long after we started the planning stages for Terra Nova, you and I disagreed about something. I don't even remember what it was, but you were blazing mad at me because I'd pulled rank on you."

She quirks a small smile and nods. At the encouragement, he goes on, "In that moment, you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. You were glorious, and I was just gone. I went from loving you to being in love with you in about a nanosecond."

She can't help the bemused grin that erupts on her face. He lifts an eyebrow at her. "Nathaniel, only you would fall in love with a woman because you found her hot when she was pissed off at you."

He laughs and hugs her tight. "Why do you think I started baiting you more and more?" He then gets serious again. "We both live relatively dangerous lives, Alicia. We can't avoid that, at least not all that effectively." She nods, and he says, "But I can't worry on it, Alicia. All I can do is love you and Gracie and be as careful as I can."

"I know." She sniffles a little. "It was just a little overwhelming. I'm not ready to lose you, Nathaniel, so damn right you'll be careful."

He leans down and kisses her hard. She gasps in surprise, clutching at his shirt. His lips leave her mouth, nipping and kissing their way along her jawline. When he gets close to her ear, he murmurs, "Have I mentioned that you bossing me around is almost as sexy as you pissed off at me?"

Feeling suddenly lighter, she laughs and squirms away from him, swatting at his arms as he tries to hold her in place. She retreats to the steps that lead down to the ground. He looks a little disappointed until she looks back at him with a leer. "We're not due to get Gracie from school for three hours. We should head home and try to sort out a way to pass the time."

He's back at her side in a flash. "Sounds like a real challenge." They descend the stairs together.

She turns around, starting to walk backwards, and reaching out, she wraps her hand in his shoulder holster and drags him along with her. She hums in agreement. "Well, I love a good challenge."

With that, she turns again and heads for the main part of the colony and their house. She never looks back to make sure he's following. She doesn't have to, because she simply knows that he is.


End file.
